Historian's Report
Preservation of Seaboard's Legacy
The purpose of this report is to bring SPAR up to date on the various efforts underway to document, preserve, and permanently archive Seaboard's proud history. The current status and future goals of these efforts will be examined, and areas needing additional support from SPAR members will be outlined. The Hill/Kahn video, the exhibit at FedEx, the status of photographs and other non-exhibited memorabilia, previous Smithsonian donations and the SPAR Web site will be discussed with special emphasis on long-term preservation.
VIDEO: Seaboard World Airlines - A Crewmember's Album
The 57-minute video produced in 1999, and released in VHS format and widely distributed to SPAR members and other interested parties has been out of print for more than a year. Efforts to provide an inexpensive DVD version have been thwarted by various technical difficulties. Initially, the $1,000 cost of making a DVD master stymied production. More recently, when an excellent Memphis video supplier was found who could make quality, labeled, DVDs for $5.00 each, the project stalled when it was found that he had gotten rid of his ¾-inch equipment (the master, from which all subsequent VHS copies were made is in the professional ¾" format, which was ubiquitous in the industry in 1999 but has since been universally abandoned in favor of digital video tape). Another local video company offered the use of its ¾" machine, but wanted $500 to get it out of storage for a one-time use. That is where things stand at the moment, but I am optimistic that in this rapidly changing video environment a satisfactory solution will be found in the near future.
Longer term is the need to find a way to put the video, in a full-length version, on the Web site. Ken Kahn is looking into this. Not only will the master soon reach the point where it will be unplayable on any available equipment, but the tape itself is not suited for archival purposes, and like emulsion film, deteriorates over time. Digitizing is the answer, but rapidly changing formats are creating problems for archivists everywhere.
EXHIBIT AT FEDEX's AIR OPERATIONS CENTER - MEMPHIS
A large, enclosed, shelved and secure glass case in the center of the FedEx AOC has been a handy repository of exhibit-worthy memorabilia for about ten years. Three such cases exist in the large, well-lit room, and I initially envisioned one each to show the history of Seaboard, Flying Tigers and FedEx. I posted a sign for more than two years in a second case inviting former FTL pilots to put together an exhibit of artifacts from their illustrious history. Unfortunately, not a single person responded.
The current Seaboard display is somewhat impoverished as a result of many important items, for which no duplicates exist, being transferred to the Smithsonian's Air & Space Museum earlier this decade. Nevertheless, the case today is well stocked with a good variety of items from both the S&W and SWA eras including a complete collection of stewardess wings, and service pins, and some rare or one-of-a-kind models of many of Seaboard's aircraft. A good sample of these items can now be seen on the SPAR Web site.
Beyond the obvious questions as to the eventual disposition of these and other artifacts, there are concerns about deterioration in the near term. I was somewhat shocked to observe the fading of paper and fabric items in just these few years as a result of being bathed in artificial light 24/7. This is the very reason why museums are so reluctant to put precious items on display, and why storage in controlled light, temperature and humidity is so essential to permanent archiving. One should learn to value museums primarily as libraries of antiquity, rather than exhibitors.
Somewhat surprisingly, a significant amount of dust creeps into the case at FedEx, and both the glass and the artifacts require regular cleaning. The extra security measures instituted at FedEx after 9/11, especially in level-1 areas (aircraft access) where the exhibit lies, has created problems for me as a retiree. I recently spoke to Paul Cassel, V.P. Flight, about getting me a special access pass, and he said he had no objection if Corporate Security approved. Stay tuned. Without such easy access, getting in with my cleaning equipment, vacuum cleaner, etc., and by appointment, is a huge hassle.
OTHER NON-EXHIBITED MATERIALS
Those items in our collection not already shipped to the Smithsonian, or exhibited at FedEx are, unhappily, stored at my house in Memphis. The bulk of this material is photographic, but there are some duplicate insignia, ash trays, playing cards, etc., as well as duplicate uniforms that cannot be properly displayed in the case. I have no interest in these items -- they are an unwelcome responsibility and I look forward to the time when they can be appropriately disposed of. I will discuss the photos and the artifacts separately.
PHOTOGRAPHS: We have several hundred slides (mostly 35 mm), and an even greater number of color and black-and-white prints. Most of the latter are of the 'snapshot' variety, and generally of poor quality. The more valuable prints are mostly period 8" x 10" black-and-white photos taken by professional photographers hired by the company. These have great historical value and are definitely worth preserving. Many of the best of these were used in the video. Once we have finished with them, and they have been adequately annotated and cataloged (a huge task!), they will be given to the Smithsonian to add to what is already the most extensive aviation photograph collection in the world.
Of the smaller ones, Ken Kahn and I will, over time, select the most useful of these to be scanned and put on the Web site. These will include the more historically important pictures taken during company operations as well as photos taken at reunions. Those deemed to be unsuitable for these purposes will be discarded.
ARTIFACTS: It is strongly hoped that an appropriate permanent repository can be found for most every item in the collection. This has and will continue to be a subject of great concern to me. Not only am I responsible for the final disposition of the Seaboard material but I was recently appointed official archivist for the 99th Bombardment Group ( WWII, B-17s) Historical Society on whose board I have sat for a number of years. Moreover, I now own a very valuable collection of more than a thousand U.S. military wings from the 1913-1947 period that I have amassed in connection a two-volume treatise on that subject that I have been working on for many years. I am similarly tasked with finding an appropriate institution to which this collection will be donated at the completion of the book, so these matters are ever present in my thoughts.
It is possible that the same institution might be interested in both airline and military. The curator at the (then) Air Force Museum in Dayton (now the National Museum of the U. S. Air Force) once told me that she would be interested having all our duplicates, but she has since been fired. The American Airlines' C.R. Smith Museum at DFW originally had plans to expend into a national airline museum, but with the recent downturn in the fortunes of airlines, those plans have been shelved, perhaps indefinitely. The Museum of Flight, in Seattle, is another possible candidate for the SWA collection, but I've not yet had discussions with those folks. Smaller aviation museums, of which there are many throughout the country, are generally poor choices for in perpetuity archiving since they seem to come and go. The search continues.
LONG-TERM PLANS FOR THE WEB SITE
Ken Kahn and I both agree that the best and perhaps only way to both preserve Seaboard's history and make such history available to the widest possible audience -- in this case, worldwide - is via the marvel of the Internet. It is with this goal in mind that Ken has worked so diligently over the past couple of years to make the SPAR Web site as compete and accurate as it is. The great challenge at the moment is to find a way to host this Web site, perpetually, after we all have left the scene. At the moment there is no easy solution to this problem, but since many other historical groups face the same dilemma, we are confident that in the near future one will be found. It may be that an institution such as a museum or university will take over such responsibilities.
Meanwhile, it is our goal to make the Web site as comprehensive as possible - including everything, however arcane, that may be of value to future historians as well as interested amateurs. In this regard, we request your help.
As you browse through the various Web pages, if you find that you are in possession of something that could be added to the collection, we would greatly appreciate hearing about it. If you have a photo or an artifact that does not appear, chances are that we don't have it, or even know of its existence.
| You can reach us at: | warwings@att.net (David) |
| webmaster@seaboardairlines.net (Ken) |
Seaboard Historian
27 October 2008
